Scottish Executive

Animals

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has given any recent approval for expenditure to be paid to four landed estates for a programme of deer culling; if so, how much this totalled; what rate was paid per carcass, and whether this represented value for money.

Allan Wilson: No such approval has been given.

Boundary Walls

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24669 by Mr Jim Wallace on 24 April 2002, how the rule of ownership of boundary divisions on an ad medium filum basis, which rule derives from a theoretical concept of inaedificatum cedit solo, can be ascribed on any common sense grounds to floors and ceilings where these form the divisions in terraced and flatted houses.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24572 on 23 April 2002, which confirmed the Executive’s view that the law on boundary walls is satisfactory and repeated the offer made in my letter to the member of 11 March this year to meet to discuss her concerns.

Compulsory Purchase

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the existence of adequate compensation provisions alone justifies the introduction of powers of compulsory purchase of land.

Ross Finnie: The existence of adequate compensation provisions does not provide the justification for the use of compulsory purchase powers. The use of such powers is justified by the contribution they make to the delivery of public policy objectives in the public interest. In such circumstances the use of compulsory purchase powers is acceptable provided there is adequate compensation.

Compulsory Purchase

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposed Agricultural Holdings Bill will include a right of compulsory acquisition and, if so, in what circumstances.

Ross Finnie: When launching the draft Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill for consultation in April 2002, I announced my intention to include in the bill provisions that would give secure tenant farmers a pre-emptive right to buy their holding when the landlord intended to sell the land. Under these proposals, no landlord would be required to sell land they wished to retain.

  I have been considering carefully the responses to that consultation. I shall announce my conclusions when the bill is introduced to Parliament, which I hope will be in September.

Construction Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reform the cash retention system in relation to public sector construction contracts.

Iain Gray: The use of cash retentions is a common practice that has, for decades, been a feature of standard conditions of contract widely used in the construction industry. Whilst retentions are at times unpopular with contractors, they do provide some comfort to clients by providing an incentive for contractors and suppliers to comply fully with their obligations, or to fund the making good of defects. However, cash retentions are not a matter in which the Scottish Executive has any regulatory authority.

Construction Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit, targets and objectives are of the group set up by the Welfare to Work Advisory Task Force to help people on the New Deal move into the construction sector.

Iain Gray: The aim of the Scottish Welfare to Work Task Force Construction Sub-group is to increase the number of long-term unemployed people entering the Construction Industry through an employer-led welfare to work access model, tailored to the needs of Scotland.

  The group has not set specific targets of numbers into work. Its role is to develop and test the access model, with a view to implementation across Scotland using local partnerships.

  The objectives of the Sub-group are:

  Research and evaluate various construction industry initiatives throughout the country and specifically in relation to Glasgow;

  Increase awareness of Welfare to Work programmes and their potential contributions within the sector;

  Develop a generic access model for training welfare to work clients in Scotland;

  Connect key players to Jobcentre Plus (CITB, employers, training providers, Local Enterprise Companies and Development Companies) and to support the development of local partnerships, and

  Ensure that the mechanism is in place to implement employer-led routeways through these partnerships.

  It intends to complete it’s objectives by December this year.

Construction Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding to date has been (a) allocated to and (b) spent on the group set up by the Welfare to Work Advisory Task Force to help people on the New Deal move into the construction sector.

Iain Gray: As with the Scottish Welfare to Work Task Force itself, the Construction Sub-group is an unpaid advisory group. It seeks to provide a co-ordinated employer led approach to helping the unemployed take up jobs in the construction sector, drawing in expertise from all areas, local and national, including trainers, funders and employers.

Construction Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many unemployed people have (a) taken part in and (b) moved into sustained employment in the construction sector through the New Deal scheme set up by the Welfare to Work Advisory Task Force.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Welfare to Work Task Force Construction Sub-group has not developed a New Deal scheme.

  Working closely with employers, CITB, local authorities, Scottish Enterprise and local training providers, it has agreed a generic construction industry access model for the long-term unemployed, and those disadvantaged in the labour market. It is intended that this could be used across the country in areas with skills shortages. Discussion is on-going to identify a suitable pilot area. At this time, it is likely that this will be in Glasgow.

  The model will make use of national and local welfare to work training funds.

Construction Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many unemployed people have moved into jobs in the construction sector through the New Deal scheme.

Iain Gray: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

  The data requested is not available as Jobcentre Plus does not collect details of New Deal clients into jobs by sector.

Construction Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what communications it has had with the Department of Trade and Industry to introduce a financial incentive, similar to that given to companies in England and Wales through the Quality Mark Scheme, to construction companies in Scotland that sign up to the Scottish construction licensing scheme.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is concerned to develop a joint approach with the DTI between the Scottish construction licensing scheme and the Quality Mark Scheme. Scottish Executive and DTI officials are discussing the options in developing such a joint approach.

Construction Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what communications it has had with the Department of Trade and Industry to assess the effectiveness of the Scottish construction licensing scheme.

Iain Gray: Both the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Construction Licensing Executive have consulted the Department of Trade and Industry on the launch of the Scottish Construction Licensing Scheme.

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many forfeitures of sound equipment there have been and how much money has been raised by sale of such equipment under section 66 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 in each year since the section came into force.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally. However, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is not aware of any cases in Scotland where action has been taken under this legislation.

Digital Hearing Aids

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the provision of digital hearing aids on the NHS.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The decision on which type of hearing aid best meets the clinical need of individual patients is for the clinician in charge of their care.

  The Good Practice Guidance on Adult Hearing Aid Fitting Services issued by the Executive to NHSScotland in March last year recommends digital aids should be provided whenever clinical judgement indicates that they would provide benefit to the patient involved that would not be provided by other types of hearing aid. The guidance emphasises that the important issue is that of matching the features of the needs of the patient rather than whether these features are incorporated in digital, analogue or digitally programmable packages.

  There are currently 18 different types of digital hearing aid included within the wide range of hearing aids available on the central contracts arranged by Scottish Health care Supplies for the NHSScotland.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much per capita funding was allocated for illicit drug treatment by each NHS board in each of the last three financial years.

Dr Richard Simpson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25154 on 1 May 2002, which details allocations to each NHS board area for drug treatment services on a per capita basis for years 1998-99 to 2002-03.

  Information on the level of spend per capita by NHS boards on drug treatment services is not held centrally.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much per capita funding was allocated for illicit drug rehabilitation and throughcare by each local authority in each of the last three financial years.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Information on the level of spend per capita by local authorities on drug rehabilitation services is not held centrally.

Enterprise and Lifelong Learning

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are currently employed in its Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department and what proportion is allocated to (a) enterprise and (b) lifelong learning.

Mr Andy Kerr: As at 30 June 2002, there were 336 permanent staff in the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department of the Scottish Executive, with a full-time equivalent of 324.7 persons. Of these, 57% worked within the Enterprise and Industrial Affairs Group and 26% were in the Lifelong Learning Group. The remainder worked within the Economic Development Advice and Employment Issues Group (13%) and Digital Scotland Unit (4%).

Ferry Services

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why there is no facility to deal with animal health requirements at Rosyth in order to allow passengers on the Superfast ferry link to Europe to take pets with them and when such a facility will be introduced.

Ross Finnie: Officials are currently in discussion with representatives of Superfast Ferries regarding the introduction of Pets Travel Scheme (PETS) on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry route. Depending on the progress of these discussions, it may be possible to have an authorised PETS route in Scotland before the end of the year.

Health

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in reducing any health inequalities between different social groups, with particular reference to cancer.

Malcolm Chisholm: Reducing health inequalities is the overarching aim of public health improvement policy. We are seeking to make progress by addressing the upstream determinants of health, through demonstration projects, healthy living centres, the Health Improvement Fund and wider work on lifestyles and life circumstances. At the same time, through a combination of investment and reform, we are seeking to enhance health care services in Scotland. NHS funding, which is at record levels and rising, is now distributed in a way that recognises the influence of deprivation and remoteness on health care needs.

  Besides this generic programme, we are directing specific attention to cancer and implementing a comprehensive strategy Cancer in Scotland (backed by £60 million additional investment up until 2003-04) bringing together government, NHSScotland, and patients to secure better access and ensure more rapid diagnosis and treatment and improved services for people with cancer.

Hospices

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the funding for hospice provision.

Malcolm Chisholm: Arrangements for the funding of adult voluntary hospices remain as set out in Management Executive Letter (1994) 104. NHS boards are expected, taking account of local circumstances, to fund 50% of hospices’ annual running costs. The Executive continuously monitors boards’ performance against that target, and is currently in discussion with the adult voluntary hospices about issuing further advice designed to clarify the elements of hospices’ running costs which would be eligible for 50% funding.

Hospitals

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to expand the number of day surgery units in hospitals.

Malcolm Chisholm: Rates of day case surgery across Scotland have increased substantially in recent years, the annual number of elective surgical day cases performed by NHSScotland having more than doubled since 1992. The day case surgery rate for each NHS board area is one of the measures of performance included in the NHS Performance Assessment Framework. The planning and commissioning of facilities for day surgery is a responsibility of NHS boards and trusts.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, following the Surjit Singh Chhokar, Chris Cawley and Gordon Gibson cases, a Court of Appeal panel of judges has been appointed to review the law on trials with multiple accused persons and, if so, what the legal basis is of this review; what its terms of reference are, and what legal status its conclusions will have.

Mr Jim Wallace: On 15 May 2002, three judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal referred an appeal ( McKinnon, McKay and Norwood v Her Majesty’s Advocate ) to a Bench of five judges with a view to clarifying an aspect of the law of concert, which applies to situations where a number of persons are accused of acting together to commit a crime. This is a normal part of judicial process to resolve an unclear area of law.

  The decision of the five judges would represent an authoritative statement of the law on the point, and would be binding on all courts of criminal jurisdiction in Scotland. No date has yet been set for the hearing before five judges.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26188 by Ross Finnie on 5 June 2002, where croft land abuts a salmon fishing for some of its length, whether it is intended that the whole of that salmon fishing is eligible croft land or only that section with croft land on its bank.

Ross Finnie: Where a salmon fishing abuts croft land it is intended that only the part of the salmon fishing property which actually abuts the croft land should be capable of being acquired through the crofting community right to buy.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many salmon fishings fall within the definition of "eligible croft land" in section 67(4)(b) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has no reason to collect such information and has not done so. In any case this is information that can only be readily established through local enquiry. In our view most salmon fishing proprietors will already know whether their salmon fishings are liable to fall within the definition of "eligible croft land". For those that do not it should be relatively straightforward to establish the circumstances of individual salmon fishings on a case by case basis by making local enquiries.

  A table sent to the Justice 2 Committee on 14 February 2002 listed all the Scottish river systems that are believed to hold salmon and indicated where parts of particular systems were known to run across croft land.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the estimate of "1 exercise of the new compulsory purchase power every 10 years", given in paragraph 324 of the Explanatory Notes to the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, refers to the crofting community right to buy and, if not, to what it refers.

Ross Finnie: The estimate in paragraph 324 of the Explanatory Notes to the Land Reform Bill, to which the question refers, relates to the compulsory purchase powers to be found in sections 32(3) and 69(2) of the bill.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any detriment to the seller of land under the crofting community right-to-buy will be taken into account when assessing whether an application is in the public interest under section 71(1)(o) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Ross Finnie: In considering whether any crofting community right to buy application is in the public interest, ministers will be bound to take account of all the information contained in the application, the responses to the application and in further comments from the applicants. In addition ministers will be bound to use all that information to assess the implications and impact of granting or refusing the application for the parties, for the wider local community, for particular sectors of the community, for the future management of the land and for a wide range of public policy issues. Only after having made such an assessment will ministers be in a position to decide whether an application is in the public interest.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive in what circumstances the factors in section 85(6)(a) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill would not be taken into account in assessing the value of croft land.

Ross Finnie: In assessing the value of croft land, a valuer would only not take account of the matters set out in section 85(6)(a) where these matters do not arise.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the methodology for valuing croft land under current legislation, using a multiple of rental value, will not be used when valuing salmon fishings under Part 3 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Ross Finnie: The requirements of section 14(2) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 relating to valuation of a croft apply solely to the purchase of a croft by the tenant of that croft where that purchase is a consequence of an order made by the Land Court under section 13 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.

  The provisions relating to the valuation of land under Part 3 of the Land Reform Bill are contained in section 85 of the bill and these make it clear that the consideration will be based on the market value of the land as determined by a valuer. Section 85 does not constrain the valuer to any particular methodology in assessing market value.

Local Government Finance

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had with trade unions about the use of the public/private partnership (PPP) process and whether it will list the outcomes and details of any agreements entered into.

Mr Andy Kerr: Two meetings have been held with the STUC   in the SE/STUC Working Group I established to examine employment issues in connection with public private partnerships. Two further meetings have taken place this month. The working group has been established in terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Executive and the STUC on 15 April 2002. The working group will make recommendations to me later this year.

  The PPP process is one of a number of topics that arises in meetings between Executive ministers and the trades unions from time to time.

NHS Funding

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost would be of restoring funding reductions on NHS boards under the Arbuthnott formula.

Malcolm Chisholm: The purpose of the Arbuthnott formula is to ensure that every NHS board in Scotland receives a level of funding that reflects the size of its population, their levels of deprivation and ill health, and the costs of delivering health care in remote and rural areas. Distributing resources for health care in a fair manner requires some changes in the share of resources going to different NHS boards. However, no board has experienced a funding reduction under the Arbuthnott formula. In fact all boards have received substantial growth in funding since this formula was introduced, with some additional funding targeted on those boards whose share of resources needs to increase.

NHS Waiting Times

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the median waiting time for heart bypass operations (a) is currently and (b) has been in each of the last three years in each NHS trust area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The median waiting times for coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs), by NHS trust of treatment, in the years ended 31 March 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, are given in the table.

  Most CABG operations performed on NHSScotland patients are carried out by the three NHS trusts listed in the table. The "Other" category covers a very small number of such operations on NHSScotland patients, most of which were carried out in the independent hospital sector.

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times1 for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts2, by NHS Trust of Treatment. Years Ended 31 March 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002P.

  
 
Year Ended 31 March 
NHS Trust 1999
2000 2001
2002p 
North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust
153.5 days 119 
days 71 days
41 days  Grampian 
University Hospitals NHS Trust 159 
days 106 days
41 days 54 
days  Lothian University Hospitals 
NHS Trust 116 days
137 days 90 
days 70 days 
Other* 313.5 days
261 days 183.5 
days 25 days 
Scotland 152 days
120 days 77.5 
days 50 days 

  Source: ISD Scotland.

  P Provisional

  Notes:

  1. Patients routinely admitted from the in-patient/day case waiting list.

  2. Patients are defined using operation codes taken from the Office of Population and Censuses and Surveys Classification of Surgical Operations and Procedures 4th revision (OPCS4). Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts have been defined using principal procedure codes K40-K46.

  * Operations mainly carried out in the private sector.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive further to the answers to questions S1W-2006, S1W-9041, S1W-9042, S1W-9374, S1W-17536, S1W-17721 and S1W-18201 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 November 1999, 31 and 24 August and 4 December 2000 and 12, 20 and 28 September 2001 respectively, why it was possible to provide figures for the number of staff who had left HM Prison Kilmarnock in the answer to question S1W-2006, but not respond similarly to the remaining questions on staff turnover on the grounds that the subject was a matter for Premier Prison Services Ltd.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The answer given to question S1W-2006 was given in error shortly after the opening of Kilmarnock and prior to the establishment of arrangements under which the release of information on the company’s inputs are the responsibility of KPSL.

  On 22 May 2002, Elaine Bailey (Managing Director PPG) gave evidence to the Justice 1 Committee and she described turnover at HM Prison Kilmarnock to be 11%.

Prison Service

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what intimation it received, and when, of the e-mail message of 12.58 pm on 21 March 2002 to Scottish Prison Service (SPS) staff by Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the SPS, regarding the prison estate review.

Mr Jim Wallace: The e-mail referred to was part of a package of internal measures to inform Scottish Prison Service staff of how they could participate in the prison estate review consultation process. It was therefore not copied to other parts of the Scottish Executive at the time of issue.

  The Scottish Prison Service have confirmed that all staff were briefed on the process of the Estates Review when the Executive’s proposals were published. As part of the presentation they were told that they had the right to make personal representations to their local elected representatives.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service design standards for cellblocks were applied to HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  No. The HM Prison Kilmarnock design was evaluated against SPS defined criteria relating to the output service specification for the new prison.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26499 by Mr Jim Wallace on 20 June 2002, why the cost to it of the independent engineer engaged to monitor the progress of work on HM Prison Kilmarnock in accordance with section 11.4 of the  Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock was not included in the cost of contract compliance shown in the answer to question S1W-21186 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 January 2002.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The independent engineer cost relates to the pre-opening phase of the prison and was properly classified as a cost of procurement rather than post-opening cost of contract compliance.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26496 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 July 2002, whether it is envisaged that private prison operators would absorb the costs of non-domestic rates.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  No. The level of non-domestic rates is effectively set by the government and cannot be influenced by the prison operator. It is therefore better to pay for it centrally rather than to pay the sum to the operator to pass on as non-domestic rates.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26496 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 July 2002, why the cost to it of non-domestic rates for private prisons is not included in the costing of private prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Non-domestic rates are not included in the contract cost of privately managed prisons as this provides best value to the taxpayer.

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit of the proposed Public Appointments Committee will be.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the proposed Public Appointments Committee will be established.

Mr Andy Kerr: The decision on whether a Public Appointments Committee should be established is entirely a matter for the Parliament.

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out specifically on the investigation, prosecution and conviction of rape cases in Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: No further research has been carried out by the Scottish Executive specifically on the investigation, prosecution and conviction of rape cases in Scotland since the Jamieson and Burman report The Attrition of Sexual Offences in the Criminal Justice System was completed in 1999.

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will follow up on the recommendation to complete a more detailed study into the reasons for the low prosecution and conviction rates for rape, made in the pilot study The ´Attrition` of Sexual Offences in the Criminal Justice System , and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: We are reviewing the need for more detailed research in this area. In the meantime we hope that the provisions of the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) Act 2002, which will be brought into force before the end of the year, will improve the way in which complainers in sex offence cases are treated in court. The impact of the act will be monitored through separate research in due course.

Residential Care

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review its recently introduced regulations on residential care facilities.

Mr Frank McAveety: The Community Care (Additional Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 and the Community Care (Deferred Payment of Accommodation Costs) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 came into force on 1 July, to extend choice for care home residents by establishing new rules for topping up and deferred payment of care home fees. The Executive has no current plans to review these regulations but will monitor their implementation.

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the Comprehensive Spending Review funding will be for trunk road improvement in each of the next three years.

Iain Gray: Spending plans for the three years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 will be announced in September.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase or reduce the number of its staff members in (a) the current year and (b) each of the next three years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive has no plans to increase the staffing of the core departments beyond filling existing vacancies in the current year. Decisions on future staffing levels are dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review 2002 exercise which will determine the annual budgets for the administration programme.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the average cost of employing civil servants in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The average annual salary for permanent staff working in the core departments of the Scottish Executive in each of the past five years is given in the table.

   
As at April Total 
(£)  1998
20,045  
1999 20,499 
 2000
21,022  
2001 21,831 
 2002
22,253

Smoking

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of smoking cessation programmes in the Argyll and Clyde NHS Board area.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: NHS boards are required by the Scottish Executive to monitor and evaluate the success of their smoking cessation services as a whole. Argyll and Clyde NHS Board, therefore, has systems in place to enable it to assess the effectiveness of smoking cessation programmes in its area. Details of the assessment made of individual services may be obtained from Argyll and Clyde NHS Board.

Sport

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recognition sport scotland will give to international shinty fixtures between Scotland and Ireland and, if none, whether it will invite sport scotland to give recognition to these fixtures.

Dr Elaine Murray: Sportscotland does not recognise the annual match between the shinty players of Scotland and the hurlers of Ireland as there is no international federation for shinty under whose auspices international competitions can take place. This is a matter for sport scotland and the Executive has no plans to intervene.

Waste Water

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is currently being considered to address the recurring odour problems relating to Seafield waste water treatment works.

Ross Finnie: In my written reply of 27 June to your letter of 4 June, I explained that Scottish Water was putting pressure on the operators to resolve the odour problems as a matter of extreme urgency.

  Since, however, this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves to respond. His response is as follows:

  Seafield WwTW is part of the Almond Valley, Seafield and Esk PFI project. The contractor is Stirling Water. Scottish Water is pursuing action with Stirling Water, and the operators Thames Water, and have a detailed action plan in place to address this issue.

Waste Water

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how local communities are involved in decisions relating to the development of waste water treatment plants.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water. I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive to respond. His response is as follows:

  Local communities are normally involved in the development of waste water treatment plants through the statutory planning process. In addition Scottish Water hold community meetings to discuss proposals and often set up community liaison groups which meet regularly to discuss and influence local developments.

Water Industry

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation was undertaken by the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland with business customers in (a) the west, (b) the east and (c) the north of Scotland before water supply and waste water services charges for businesses in each of these former water authority areas were finalised.

Ross Finnie: The Water Industry Commissioner does not consult specifically on the finalised water supply and waste water service charges from Scottish Water or the former water authorities.

  The setting of charges falls as a consequence of the revenues cap agreed in the light of the Quality and Standards process subject to full public consultation by Scottish ministers. Scottish Water are required to consult the Water Industry Commissioner on proposed charges schemes (both commercial and domestic) annually to confirm adherence to ministers recommendations following the Quality and Standards review.